Scientific Name:
Solanum tuberosum
Pronunciation:
so-LAY-num too-bur-OH-sum
Common Name:
potato
Family Name:
Solanaceae
Plant Type:
Annual (grown as), Herbaceous perennial
Key ID Features:
Tubers mostly oval and harvested when 3-15cm long; stem thick and fleshy; leaves alternate, pinnately compound, larger leaflets 5-9, most ovate, 7-15cm long x 2-8cm wide, usually with additional much smaller leaflets along the rachis, most ovate bright green, opposite; cormyb-like cymes above foliage with 5-20 white to purple florets with large yellow anthers, Jul-Sep.
Habit:
Arching
Form:
Mounded
Texture:
Coarse
Mature Height:
0.2 - 0.4m
Mature Spread:
0.3 - 0.6m
Growth Rate:
Fast
Origin:
South America (Peru)
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 8a: (-12 to -9.5 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun
Soil/Growing Medium:
Well-drained
Landscape Uses:
Urban agriculture
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Compound
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Soft flexible
Surfaces:
Pubescent
Compound Leaf:
Odd-pinnate
Shapes:
Ovate
Apices:
Acuminate
Bases:
Oblique (uneven)
Margins:
Entire
Inflorescence Type:
Cyme, Corymb-like
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
5
Corolla Shape:
Rotate/stellate
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Showy, White, Blue, Purple, Pink
Flower Time at Peak:
Jul, Aug, Sep
Fruit Type:
Berry (true)
Fruit Colour:
Green, Purple, Red
Fruiting Time:
Sep, Oct
Additional Info:
Showy, Toxic, round, 1-2cm wide
Bark or Stem Colour:
Green
Organ Modifications:
Runners (or stolons), Tubers
Pest Susceptibility:
(Rabbit resistant)
